2017 WOMEX World Music Expo at the ICC

Fantastic news for music lovers: WOMEX World Music Expo, the prestigious World Music Trade Show will be taking place at the International Congress Centre in October 2017.

WOMEX is the most important event in world music, showcasing traditional, ethnic and folk tunes, as well as musical experiments that fuse folk influences from various regions or combine folk music with other genres.

The WOMEX Trade Fair is not only a large exhibition event dedicated to representatives of record labels, concert agencies, festivals, and instrument makers; it also features conferences and concerts. The event attracts a lot of attention from journalists, musicians, and lovers of new tunes.

WOMEX has been running since 1994. Cities that have repeatedly hosted the event include Berlin, Essen and Seville; it has also been organized in places such as Brussels, Marseilles and Thessaloniki. Last year, Budapest, the first city in post-communist Europe to host the show, welcomed 2.5 thousand delegates from 1.5 thousand companies in 90 countries and as many as 320 journalists. Seven stages hosted performances by 280 artists from 50 countries. In October 2016, WOMEX will enjoy its second edition in the Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela.

The Polish edition is scheduled to take place on 25-29 October 2017 at the International Congress Centre and the Polish National Radio Orchestra in Katowice. In their communiqué, the show’s organizers point out that the city of Katowice has been undergoing an impressive transformation from industrial town towards a “green centre of culture”. And they emphasize that it is the only town in Central Europe to boast the title of UNESCO City of Music; it “has recently created an amazing Culture Zone” and hosts two popular and highly acclaimed festivals (the OFF Festival and the Tauron New Music Festival).